The video of Rob Ford allegedly smoking crack cocaine — the video that the mayor said does not exist: was it shot on a cellphone owned by murdered drug dealer Anthony Smith? Two sources — one in politics and another on the police service — have indicated to the Star’s Robyn Doolittle that homicide detectives are investigating the original ownership of that cellphone and whether it belonged to Smith.

When, where and why was a grinning Ford photographed flanked by the late Smith and a second man, 19-year-old Muhammad Khattak? The Star has learned Khattak was wounded — shot in the arm and back — in the same shooting that killed Smith

Why did Ford’s press secretary and deputy press secretary suddenly resign on Monday, further depleting the front-line ranks in the mayor’s shrinking inner circle? This provocative development Ford tried to frame at a fumbling press conference as career opportunities seized, implying the double-quit had nothing to do with intensifying upheaval in his office?

Further, did that jettisoning occur after an argument Part II between Ford and his chief of staff following Ford’s insistence that Towhey retrieve thousands of dollars worth of football equipment the mayor had donated to the Don Bosco Eagles, the teen football team Ford has coached for years until that relationship was formally severed by the Toronto Catholic school board last week?

Ford made a gratuitous reference to that equipment during his return to the radio airwaves on Sunday with brother Doug, mentioning during their show that he had donated the equipment to the school, didn’t want it back — a non sequitur that he clearly wanted to get on the record, perhaps pre-emptively.

Most crucially: How can Toronto’s mayor continue to pretend that it will be business as usual at city hall as the crisis expands? “We’re just soldiering on,” he said Monday.

Police have confirmed a member of Ford’s staff was interviewed by homicide investigators, though they would not reveal the identity of that staffer. Police said the interview was not in connection to a homicide but, rather, undertaken by the homicide officers because of their unspecified expertise in conducting the interview.

The beleaguered mayor, assailed by a crush of reporters at city hall Monday, offered scant explanation when queries were lobbed about detectives interviewing a senior member of his staff about the video scandal. “Everything’s fine. I have no idea what the police are investigating. It’s better that you talk to the police about that.”

Ford World is imploding.

This is no longer just about a tape, no matter how disturbing its alleged contents. The scandal has metastasized, disease cells multiplying rampantly largely due to inept handling of the dynamite allegations, which can only be sourced to Rob and Doug Ford since they apparently have rejected all advice from crisis-containment experts, rolling the dice on continuing support from Ford Nation — a staunch constituency that has barely budged, according to poll results released Sunday.

Ford acknowledged he’d only discovered around noon Monday that George Christopoulos and Isaac Ransom, press secretary and deputy, had packed up their dolls and dishes and left the building. Because the mayor’s office is visible through glass walls, cameras captured a dishevelled-looking Ford rattling around the premises before his news conference, looking into empty offices.

“I’ve always told everybody that’s ever worked for me, if an opportunity comes up, go, please, take advantage of it,” Ford told reporters, furthering the apparent fiction of unrelated consequences. “This is a huge stepping stone. As you see, I have a young staff … and it’s great experience for them. But I’m not going to hold anyone back from any future endeavours they may have.”

The mayor also apologized for calling reporters “maggots” on his radio show. “It has been bothering me a lot.”

Doesn’t bother me. We’ve already ordered the T-shirts.

Really, that’s the last thing Ford should be apologizing about. What he needs to do is beg pardon, sincerely, for the profound contempt he has shown towards the city he professes to love, the residents he claims to serve with unparalleled devotion.

That city has staggered through calamity after calamity during the Ford regime. Now the business of governing at city hall has been swamped by the slosh-over from the mayor’s latest travails, with councillor after councillor decrying the “shenanigans” that have reduced them all to walk-on extras in a farce.

On Sunday, the Brothers Ford on radio were smug, defiant, crude and even threatening, vowing nuclear war against their perceived media enemies. They must have believed the fireball had whooshed past them, the mayor confidently asserting that there is no video, a claim which immediately had inquiring minds wondering what’s happened to it.

That’s another question which demands an answer.

And this one: Anthony Smith owned a cellphone. Was it found on his body?

Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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